


Subway

by Frangipanidownunder



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-26 00:23:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12047430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frangipanidownunder/pseuds/Frangipanidownunder
Summary: Prompt: Mulder and Scully using public transport.I have never been to New York. I know nothing about the Subway, but I have spent many rickety hours on the Tube so I’ve based this story on my own experience of being short and feeling vulnerable in the crush.





	Subway

She scrabbled after him feeling the splatters up the back of her nylons. His height, at times like these, irked her. Or rather her height did. Or was it their height difference? Or was it that he was inconsiderate? Or was she just being ridiculous? Would it really be so hard for her to say, “Mulder, could you please hold up a second?”  
He turned and shouted over the noise of the rain and the sidewalk. “We’ll miss the train, Scully.”  
She hadn’t realised she’d spoken aloud. She picked up her pace and felt the back of her skirt sticking to her legs as they bolted down the subway steps. The heat blasted them in the face and she felt her already damp hair frizz instantly. Mulder was a way ahead, almost on the escalator ready to go down to the platform. She tried to keep up but the floor was slippery under her heels and she had her briefcase in her hand and her handbag over her other shoulder.  
“The train’s about to arrive,” he yelled, halfway down already.  
She raised a hand and nearly hit the person behind her with her bag. By the time she joined him on the platform, she was hot, wet, bedraggled and felt about as professional as Langly. Mulder was pristine in his suit. The only damage from the weather was his fringe, but that was always unruly and only added to his style.  
A blast of hot air rushed over them and the train groaned to a halt. The doors wheezed open and Scully swallowed hard at the pile of bodies in the carriage. Mulder stepped in and parted the seas. Scully stepped in and the waves crashed over her. She suffocated in the crush and her case was jammed into her leg. Her handbag strap caught on someone’s arm and she tugged at it. It snapped and the bag flopped down her side, dangling until her lipstick fell out. She bent to pick it up and the train pulled away. She headbutted the solid leg of the man in front of her and the lipstick rolled further away. Standing up, she was jostled by the movement of the train and she lurched into a woman who gave her a seasoned look before moving back.  
“Sorry,” she said, craning her neck around the bodies to see where her lipstick and Mulder had ended up.  
The heat was stifling and she wished she’d unbuttoned her jacket now, but holding two bags and trying to stay upright was proving difficult. She hoped there’d be a mass exodus at the next stop, but instead, the doors yawned open and even more people loaded. She was squeezed between two giants and all she could see when she looked up was hairy nostrils. At the next stop, more people climbed on and she felt herself lifted off her feet and shuffled along the carriage. She was glad she’d memorised how many stops there were because she couldn’t see the map for the heads of hair, caps, jackets and other accoutrements. Somewhere, someone was playing rap music and the ogre next to her started jigging in time. She was bouncing up and down with his movements and if she hadn’t been so hot and bothered she would have laughed at the situation.  
The same happened at the next stop. She was forcibly moved from her spot and landed a few feet further down. Her handbag was hooked over her elbow and she reached up to hold onto one of the overhead loops but she couldn’t reach. Someone laughed and if she wasn’t already so red from the heat she would have flushed so hard. She stood with her feet further apart and flexed her toes against the movement of the train. Her toes ached as she dug in with each jolt. Even more people joined at the next stop and she found herself turned 180 degrees. She was pinned and felt her chest constrict. There was a rubbing against her backside and she tried to shift forward but couldn’t move. The rubbing became more rhythmical and she stiffened. When it became too much, she turned her head to face the perv, give him a piece of her fucking mind. She looked up and saw Mulder smiling down at her.  
“There you are, Scully. I thought you’d got off at the wrong stop.” His arm was extended above his head and she was tucked under it, her back pressed hard against his front. She would probably never know if he’d rubbed against her deliberately. She knew she wouldn’t ask. He knew she wouldn’t ask.  
When they got out of the Subway and breathed in the fresher air of the city outside, Mulder hailed a cab. As they waited, he fished into his pocket and showed her a tube of lipstick.  
“This rolled my way,” he said, taking the lid off and admiring the colour. “I’d like to get to know the woman who wears this colour better. It’s my favourite.” He put it back in his pocket.  
The cab arrived and he opened the door for her. She would never know if he knew it was hers. She knew she wouldn’t tell him.


End file.
